Harvesting Home Herbal Tea
By koopharper
@koopharper (7601)
Canada
August 5, 2016 6:29am CST
We've made an effort this year to start harvesting some of the natural growing herbs around us. We'll decide on favourites later.
We harvested St. John's Wort about a week ago. It is now dry and ready for storage. Still hanging in small bundles on the indoor clothesline.
Next on the agenda is the Goldenrod pictured here. This is growing right across the mud road from our camp. I don't know how many other kinds we will make time for this year.
9 people like this
12 responses
@JadePlatypus (234)
• Australia
5 Aug 16
Do you harvest to make tea etc only- food-based, or do you harvest to use as dye as well, if you dye yarn or fibre?
2 people like this
@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
I would harvest for dyes but at this point we don't have anything to dye. I have looked into it and we do have a book on natural dyes if ever we advance to that.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
6 Aug 16
I am continually amazed at the things that are growing here naturally.
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
7 Aug 16
@koopharper Do you have wild berries of any kind? Almost all of them can be used to make tea, from their leaves. Nature is a good provider if we only know what to look for.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
7 Aug 16
@peavey We have raspberries that have escaped cultivation all through here. The birds and other animals get most of those. We have chokecherries although they don't appear to be as abundant this year. We also have hips from the wild roses. That's what I recall off the top of my head anyway.
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@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
There is so much that is available for free, so it is good that you take advantage of it. 
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@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
@koopharper The internet is very helpful in identifying plants and their uses. Also elderly people might have some information that is useful in identifying local plants, especially natives.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
6 Aug 16
@1hopefulman In this area the natives ate abundantly before we got here.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
Taking advantage of those free resources that we have available can make a huge difference for us. There is so much there that we don't know about. I think we're just beginning to scratch the surface.
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@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
5 Aug 16
You're lucky you have them growing all around you.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
The different herbal teas have different medicinal and therapeutic value. For now that's the easiest use we can make of what we have. I'm curious about harvesting and preparing cattail root and other food plants. Some of these plants are here in huge quantities.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
7 Aug 16
@LadyDuck There is no lack of goldenrod. Right now it lines the one side of our road for at least a kilometre.
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@LadyDuck (471506)
• Switzerland
6 Aug 16
@koopharper I see from the photo that you have huge quantities.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
14 Aug 16
We haven't but we want to. Time has been our enemy.
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@Genipher (5405)
• United States
14 Aug 16
@koopharper
I totally get that. Too much to do, too little time!
I wish adults didn't need to sleep...
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@buenavida (9984)
• Sweden
5 Aug 16
These are great herbs and very useful. I hope you can find them in a clean area, without pollution. You'll find good info on the Internet. 
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
6 Aug 16
We live well off the beaten path. We're about as pollution free as you're going to find in this part of the world.
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@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
5 Aug 16
impressive gardening / farming skills
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
We're still learning. The huge variety of flora and fauna right in our neck of the woods is impressive. The more we study the more we're surprised at what is all available.
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
I like the wide variety of flavours. Many of them have medicinal or therapeutic value. We live in semi-wilderness and would like to tap into the natural resources available there for free.
@Letranknight2015 (51957)
• Philippines
5 Aug 16
wow that reminds me I should try that moringa tea right about now @koopharper
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
5 Aug 16
There are so many kinds. I'm part mad scientist so you never know what I'm going to make.
@Hate2Iron (15727)
• Canada
28 Aug 16
I didn't know that you could make tea from goldenrod. You certainly found a great source of it!
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@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
28 Aug 16
Lots of good things out there for us that we were never taught to make use of.
@koopharper (7601)
• Canada
1 Sep 16
Our mint efforts didn't go as well as expected. We've had better success with it elsewhere.
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